Human Rights Act 1998 (Meaning of Public Authority) Bill

The timetable is unrealistic. If the judgment next week goes the way that we want, we shall consider it and ascertain whether it fills the gap as completely as we want. If not, we shall consider where we go from there. If the case goes against the thrust of our intervention, we want to look at the reasoning behind the failure to follow our intervention and, after consultation, we shall draft a document that helps to frame the right legislation. I shall exemplify the problems and complexities. In the more recent inquiry into the issue carried out by the Human Rights Committee, Age Concern mooted that one way forward would be to amend the Care Standards Act 2000 to deem care providers to be performing a public function, whether or not they are private. The Committee itself thought that piece-by-piece change would lead to inconsistency in the application of the Human Rights Act across the board. Liberty advocated changing the Police and Justice Act 2006 in the interim before the courts could reach a better interpretation. The Committee considered whether to specify in each piece of legislation that public authorities were deemed to be those who undertook delegated or contracted-out functions of various kinds as specified in each measure—a complex way of trying to meet through schedules to Acts every mischief that has occurred in every aspect of services where the fact that the private sector was not a public authority caused difficulty. So many potential solutions to the problem from so many sources, added to a body of judicial opinion that has yet to emerge, cannot be tacked on to a one-clause Bill and sent to Committee. We are committed to taking action this year and I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon will take comfort from the fact that we will work hard to ensure that the necessary consultation is undertaken with appropriate dispatch. The Government are well aware that vulnerable people who need the protections of the Human Rights Act are not receiving them. We hope that their lordships agree and follow— It being half-past Two o’clock, the debate stood adjourned. Debate to be resumed on Friday 29 June.